Towards the end of his presentation on “Doing Church in Uncharted Territory,” during the Annual Conference business session, Tod Bolsinger challenged everyone attending to tell a story from their church’s history. The story could be about a hero, about “a cherished moment that is retold over and over again. One that says, ‘This is what we are really all about.’ One that says, ‘This was the moment when I was most proud of us.’ One that says, ‘This was when I knew I found my church home.’”
The delegate body of the Church of the Brethren Annual Conference today voted to elect new leadership. The delegates voted on two ballots, one to fill open positions carried over from 2020–when the Conference was canceled because of the pandemic, and one to fill positions open in 2021.
Among other business, the board spent a significant amount of time continuing its work to align denominational ministries with its new Strategic Plan. Other top agenda items included a 2022 budget parameter for Core Ministries, recommendations from a team “re-imagining” Brethren Press, and the calling of a new Executive Committee.
Children’s Disaster Services (CDS) has deployed a Critical Response Childcare team to Surfside, Fla., to serve families affected by the heartbreaking building collapse that occurred in the early morning hours of June 24. More than 150 people are still missing and the current official death toll is 11.
NEWS
1) Budget parameter for 2022, priorities for denominational ministries top agenda for Mission and Ministry Board
2) Annual Conference to feature original composition ‘All Things New!’
3) The Brethren Academy for Ministerial Leadership celebrates its 2021 graduates
La Academia de los Hermanos para un Liderazgo Ministerial celebra sus graduandos del 2021
4) In North America, can borders become shared spaces, even amid racism and division?
FEATURES
5) ‘During my two years as moderator’: A pastoral letter from Annual Conference moderator Paul Mundey
6) Brethren bits: Atlantic Northeast District seeks church video streaming specialist, BVSer visa denied, Office of Peacebuilding and Policy signs letter opposing military FOIA proposal, Annual Conference virtual blood drive, and news from churches, districts, colleges, and more
In this issue: Atlantic Northeast District seeks church video streaming specialist, BVSer visa denied, Office of Peacebuilding and Policy signs letter opposing military FOIA proposal, Annual Conference virtual blood drive, and news from churches, districts, colleges, and more.
“Don’t miss the original composition ‘All Things New!’” says Conference director Chris Douglas, inviting Church of the Brethren members to log in early to the Sunday morning worship service of the 2021 Annual Conference on July 4. “Worship will actually begin 10 minutes before the hour (9:50 a.m. Eastern time) with gathering music featuring an original composition by Greg Bachman of the York (Pa.) First congregation.”
Four Brethren Academy students completed their programs in the 2020-2021 academic year. All four students are currently serving churches and are listed alongside their ministry placements. Graduates of the Brethren Academy receive certificates of completion during celebrations within their districts. / Cuatro estudiantes de la Academia de los Hermanos han completado sus programas en el año académico del 2020-2021. Cada uno de los cuatro estudiantes sirven en iglesias y están enlistados juntamente en sus colocaciones ministeriales. Los Graduandos de la Academia de los Hermanos recibieron certificados de finalización durante celebraciones dentro de sus propios distritos.
The Church of the Brethren Mission and Ministry Board will hold its pre-Annual Conference meeting on Saturday and Sunday, June 26-27. The meeting will be a hybrid of in-person and Zoom options for attendance, with most of the board members gathering at the General Offices in Elgin, Ill.
NEWS
1) Annual Conference log-ins are distributed to registered participants, trainings and tech support available
2) Online reception will recognize and welcome new church fellowships and projects
3) Online event for clergywomen on July 22 takes place of usual breakfast at Annual Conference
4) ‘Always With Us’ book study considers what Jesus really said about the poor
PERSONNEL
5) Trent Turner concludes work with the Church of the Brethren Material Resources
RESOURCE
6) ‘We celebrate and give thanks to God’: NCC shares Juneteenth responsive reading
7) Brethren bits: Prayer for 600,000 deaths to COVID-19, daily coverage of Annual Conference begins June 30 at www.brethren.org, memorial service for Lois Neher, opening on the Young Adult Steering Committee, letter on ending solitary confinement, updated submission information for Messenger, new endowed scholarship honors W. Clemens Rosenberger, Womaen’s Caucus is “Refreshed at 50,” and more
